Has cricket lost its way? The ‘problem’ with the latest review

Cricket Australia is holding firm on player bans over the ball-tampering scandal, despite a report finding it was partly responsible.

A scathing review following the March incident in Cape Town has used words like “arrogant” and “dictatorial” to describe the culture of Cricket Australia.

It found the organisation was partly responsible for creating a win-at-all-cost mentality.

Despite the findings, Chairman David Peever says they won’t reduce the bands to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

42 recommendations were also made, including changes to the code of conduct and greater transparency.

But Ross Greenwood points out an issue with the review – several parts have been redacted.

Large parts of the report have been completely blacked out.

“This is just bizarre that we have a redacted executive summary in a report into cricket.”

Author of Crossing the Line: How Australian Cricket Lost Its Way Gideon Haigh says its “mind-boggling”.

“In some ways its a vindication of Cricket Australia saying it was a genuinely independent review… the problem was it was too independent.

“What isn’t redacted is a very, very unflattering picture of not just the players but the organisation more generally.

“The outstanding things is that David Peever, the Chairman, tried to convince us today that cricket could undergo a complete top to bottom cultural change without changing any of the key personnel in it.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Ross also speaks with Marketing Focus Managing Director Barry Urquhart on whether brands will still work with cricketers despite the recent scandals.

Mr Urquhart says at the moment, “globally, Australia is associated with cheating when it comes to cricket”.

“I think that’s a very sad reflection of the nation, the sport and the players themselves.

“When sponsors are wanting to be associated with players or sports, they want to be having consistency with those values that they aspire to.